Thousands gather in small groups to discuss civic issues at Big Table event

Tuesday

Aug 30, 2016 at 12:01 AMAug 30, 2016 at 11:15 PM

In homes and offices, in libraries and schools and coffee shops, thousands of central Ohioans sat down to talk. The first Big Table discussion started at 6 a.m. Tuesday and the last stretched into the evening. Even travelers waiting on concourse B at John Glenn Columbus International Airport were invited to take part in the community-conversation project. Organizers at the Columbus Foundation were thrilled with the response.

In homes and offices, in libraries and schools and coffee shops, thousands of central Ohioans sat down to talk.

The first Big Table discussion started at 6 a.m. Tuesday and the last stretched into the evening. Even travelers waiting on concourse B at John Glenn Columbus International Airport were invited to take part in the community-conversation project.

Organizers at the Columbus Foundation were thrilled with the response.

"I have said for years now that good ideas can come from anywhere and today they came in abundance from everywhere,” said foundation president and CEO Doug Kridler.

About 470 registered host sites were scattered throughout central Ohio, and a few beyond, with eight to 12 or more participants at each table. That made for more than 5,000 people sitting down for informal discussions about their topics of choice.

Supporters say the idea wasn't to seize on quick answers to societal or neighborhood problems, but to engage participants and create civic energy. The foundation and its community partners will now work with the hosts to compile information.

The Dispatch dropped in on a handful of the round-the-table talks:

Hearing from leaders

Columbus has a lot of positive attributes: Its growing cultural diversity, strong neighborhood identities, the rebirth of the Downtown area, and a general welcoming attitude, said a group of community leaders who met at the Legal Aid Society of Columbus in German Village.

But it also has an equal number of challenges, and it will take more conversations such as the ones started Tuesday if the city wants to reach its potential, the group said.

“I think we need to be more proactive,” Columbus City Councilwoman Jaiza Page said at the Big Table discussion hosted by the local Legal Aid Society and the Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation. “ Columbus is good at being reactive.”

So what areas did the group of 16 public and community leaders think need more attention?

Teen gun violence; an education system that doesn’t always serve everyone equally; a disconnect between the jobs that are available and the pool of applicants to fill them; reform within the juvenile-justice system; and rehabilitation services needed in jails and prisons, to name just a few.

On the education front, the group discussed a lack of vocational training for skilled jobs that don’t require a college degree; performance gaps between white and minority students; and an overemphasis on disciplining students for bad behavior instead of trying to figure out the root cause.

“On the South Side, two-thirds of African-American males are graduating” because of programs currently in place, said Charles Noble, director of African-American Male Initiatives at the Columbus Urban League.

Page suggested the city should try to predict more of its problems before they become unwieldy and take a more communitywide approach to solving those issues, as it did with the high infant-mortality crisis.

Discussing disabilities

When compared with many other Midwest cities, Columbus is “open, friendly and accepting” of people with disabilities, said residents of Creative Living, which houses and supports individuals with physical disabilities.

Still, the 11 people who gathered at the facility in the University District on Tuesday to discuss accessibility in Columbus saw room for improvement — and not just with the big issues such as employment and transportation.

What’s often more discouraging, they said, is when people without disabilities use the wheelchair-accessible stalls in public restrooms or park their cars in handicapped spots without penalty.

“You just give up sometimes because it gets so frustrating," said Rana Yonker, who lives at Creative Living and uses a wheelchair.

And no one is exempt from physical disabilities: You can be born with one, develop one later or be involved in an accident that leaves you with a disability. “It doesn’t discriminate,” said Marly Saade, who graduated from Ohio State University in December and uses a wheelchair.

“We are a group that you could be a part of tomorrow,” said Yonker.

This, they said, is why others in the community should be more conscious and considerate of their challenges, especially when it comes to something avoidable, like the bathroom stall you choose.

They also believe that leaders in Columbus — CEOs, City Council members, the president of Ohio State — could make a positive statement by using a wheelchair for just one day.

"Everyone always says, 'Oh, it must be so hard for you being in a wheelchair,’" said Lora Stilke, who has been at Creative Living since 1994. “You have no idea.”

Regarding racism

At the Near East Side home of Suzanne Roberts and Glen Kizer, nine people — five white and four black, ages 17 to 74 — shared a meal and heartfelt thoughts on one of the nation’s most enduring and vexing obstacles.

“Racism is a made-up social system,” Roberts said. “It’s human-made, so it can be human-solved.”& amp; amp; amp; amp; lt; /p>

No disagreement there. But what, on a personal and community level, can people do to help bring about change?

Columbus, like most other U.S. metro areas, is home to plenty of racial and economic segregation. Such divides limit interaction and make gatherings such as the one in Roberts’ dining room rare.

“We don’t sit down at tables like this most of the time,” said Roberts, a consultant who also develops programming for local agencies and businesses on class, race and gender.

Jennifer Adams said racism “causes anguish for us all. As a mother of four children, it’s important to me that it cease.”

Before that can happen, the participants agreed, problems have to be recognized and confronted. "I don't think it's possible for us to think our way out of racism," said Rachel Lee.

The youngest person at the table, 17-year-old Maddy Osborn, at first said she hadn’t faced many problems, even as one of a few black students in her Bexley class. But she also said that some kids “would say stupid things to me,” and that when she talked to teachers or counselors, the message was that the students were being mean, not racist.

“If we keep pretending, it’s not going to work,” Roberts said.

What does work is for people of different backgrounds, races, religions and sexual identities to get to know one another — to talk, eat and laugh together.

“You have to rub elbows,” Randy Roys said.

A senior perspective

Columbus needs more independent-living places for seniors as their numbers grow, agreed seven women who gathered around a dining table at North Community Place.

"I waited almost two years for affordable housing," said Pat Hoisington, 74. Sharon Todhunter, 70, said she was on the waiting list 14 months for an apartment at the center run by Lutheran Social Services on Morse Road on the North Side.

Most of the women (there are only three men among the 47 residents) said they were on five waiting lists at the same time. And they worry that if the waiting list for independent living was that long, what will it be like when they need an assisted-living center or nursing home?

Word that Aetna is leaving the Affordable Care Act program worries them. That will mean fewer choices and higher cost for insurance that already is cutting benefits.

All felt fortunate to live at North Community Place because of people like Donna Coe, the center's service coordinator who is there to find an answer to their questions about services.

For most of them, moving from a single-family home after 30 or so years to a center with almost 50 residents took some getting used to.

"I'm very happy here," Norma Nicholson, 93, said. "I can be private when I want; I can mingle when I want."

Columbus has excellent services for seniors, the women said. They had special praise for the Clintonville Beechwold Community Resources Center. CRC provides transportation to the store, social outings and information on many resources for seniors. That's a valuable resource in the 43214 ZIP code that has the highest senior population in Franklin County, they said.

Todhunter suggested that people prepare for their golden years while they're still in their 60s: Get finances in order, and know what housing and financial assistance will be available. Most importantly, she said, make sure your beneficiaries have control of your money and property for when the inevitable arrives.